Letter-box.



PATENTED MAY 21, V1907.

N. T. CHENEY.

LETTER BOX.

.APPLIOATION FILED MAB,10,1906.

-9 [Nl/ENTOR m. w M@ NORMAN T. onnniif PATENT caricia.

(BAimvrA, ILLINOIS.

LETTER-BOX..

Specification of Letters Eatent.

atented May 21, 190'?.

Application filed March 10,1906. Serial No. 305,353.

T all 7.071.071@ it' 71u03/ concern:

Be it known that l, NORMAN T. CHENEY, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Batavia, in the county of Kane and State of illinois, have invented new and useful improvements in Letter-Boxes, of which the following is a speciiication.

This invention relates to letter boxes, the Object of the invention being to provide a simple, convenient and economically manufactured letter box having mechanism whereby when mail is either inserted into the box or placed upon the outside thereof, an alarm will be sounded. at a distance from the box to notify the occupants of the house or dwelling` that the letter carrier has deposited mail therein or thereupon.

l/Vith the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section through a letter box embodying` the present invention, taken on the line 1 1 of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. S is a horizontal cross-section. through the same taken on the line 3 3- of Fig. l. Fig. Ll is a diagrammatic view of the electrical connections.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a letter box which may be of any desired size and general construction, the same being shown as provided at the front with a transparent window 2 and having at one side thereof a doorv 3 hinged along the bottom edge to the box and provided. with side flaps el which fold into and out of the box in the ordinary manner. The top of the box is described in substantiallyT semi-circular shape, as shown at 5, while the front of the box is provided with an entrance opening 6 through which the mail is inserted into the box, said. opening G being normally closed by means of a lid or flap 7 hinged along the top of the opening 6, as shown at S, and held normally closed by means of a lid closing spring 9.

Extending inward from the lid or llap 7 is an arm 11 which is rigidly connected` to the lid or flap 7 and provided at its extremity with a contact piece or plate 1() which. is adapted to come in contact with a pair of contact plates or conductor terminals 111"L supported within Athe box l at the back thereof, as shown in Fig. 1, and connected by wires 12 which extend to a battery 13 and a l bell 14 arranged in the saine electrical circuit with the contact pieces or plates 11u. The contact piece or plate is adapted to extend across thecontaet plates 11a and close the electrical circuit as the arm 11 is swung downward by the lid or flapv as the latter is opened to insert mail into the box. As the lid is closed by the spring 9, the operation is repeated and thus the bell 14 is energized twice each time the lid or flap 7 is opened.

Extending upward from the top 5 of the box are two jaws 15 and 16, the jaw 15 being shown as stationary and the jaw 16 as pivl otally mounted at its lower edge or hinged to the top of the letter box. The outer or upper edges of the jaws are connected by one or more springs 17 which draw the jaws together so as to .hold between the same any mail which may be placed upon the top of the box and which is too large in size to be inserted through the opening 6 hereinabove described. The hinged jaw 16 is provided with an arm 18 which. works through a slot 19 in the box and is movable across a pair of contact plates 20 arranged in parallel relation to each other but separated and connected to branch wires 21 which connect with the circuit wires 12. By means of the construction just described, as the jaw 16 is pressed away from the stationary aw 1.5, to insert mail between the jaws, the contact piece 22 carried by the extremity of the arm 18 sweeps across the parallel contact pieces 20 and thereby closes the circuit and actuates the bell 14.

lt will be understood that the letter box may be placed upon the outside of a building or dwelling or within the vestibule thereof and that the battery 13 and bell 14 may be located within the house at any desired point and at any desired distance from the letter box. Vf hen mail is inserted into the letter box or between the jaws at the top of the box, the electrical circuit will be closed and the bell sounded, thus calling attention to the occupant of the house that the postman has placed mail in or upon the box. l The contact plates 11DL and 2O may be rigidly mounted within the letter box, but under the preferred. embodiment of this invention, said plates are backed up by springs 23, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, so that said plates will yield as the contact pieces of the arms 11 and 1S sweep across the same, thus preventing breakage of any parts of the mechanism and, at the same time, giving a IOO better contact to more eilectually close the circuit.

I claim:

l. The combination with a letter box, oi an exteriorly arranged mail holder comprising a iXed jaw, a hinged jaw, means 'for urg- 1 ing one jaw toward the other, an arm carried by the hinged jaw and provided with a contact piece, an electrical circuit including an i alarm, and a pair of contact plates in circuit arranged within the sweep of the contacti piece of said arm.

2. The combination with a letter box, of a mail holder arranged exteriorly thereof and embodying a stationary jaw, a hinged jaw,

means for pressing the hinged jaw normally toward the stationary jaw, an arm carried by the hinged jaw and provided with a contact piece, an electrical circuit including an alarm, and a pair of springesupported contact plates in circuit arranged at a distance from each other but within the sweep of the contact piece carried by said arm.

In testimony whereof, I aHiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

NORMAN T. CHENEY.

Witnesses WM. L. ANDERSON, D. B. ANDRUs. 

